Vending-machine.



C. WHITMORB.

VENDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED DEO. 1B, 1911.

Patented Oct. 14, 1913.

3 SHEETS-SHEET l.

T. C. WHITMORE.

VENDING MACHINE. APPLICATION FLED DB0. 1s, 1911.

1,075,527. Patented 001.1411913.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

FREDERICK c. wnrrmonn,

F NEW YORK, N.' Y".=,I.ASSIGfNOB T0 DISPLAY VENDING C01, A CORPORATION 0F NEW YQRK.'

vEimIN-MACHINE.

speeiacation of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. v1.4,- 1913# l To 'all whom t may concern MORE, a citizen of the United States, and a.

Be it known that I, FREDERICK C. WHIT- re'sident of the city, county, and State of New York, (whose post-oilice address is No. 112 West One Hundred and Forty-fourth street, New York city, New York,) have invented a new and useful `Improvement in Ven ding-Maghines, which invention is fully set forthin thefollowing specificatlon. 'My `invention relates `to coin-controlled vending-machmes, particularly. of the 'class where there is-aplurality of compartments that may contain different -kinds of goods,

with means for'.bringing any one compart i ment into' position for delivery. But the inyentio'n is applicable -to' other forms of vendmg-machines.

ratus employing my invention, f Ata through theline Vl[-'Iy of Fig. 2; Fig. 2 is a transverse section through Fig.' l;v Fig. 3 is a vertical section, on a larger scale, of the The invention comprises -a packagechute in which is stacked a vertical pile of chewing-gum, p goods to be vended, with coin-controlled means for ejecting the lowermost package.

My invention relates principallyto 4the coinlcontrolled .ejecting 4' means, and .comprises various features of construction and arrangement in connection therewith..

My invention will be best understood byreference to the 4 accompanying drawings,

that villustrate A-a preferred embodiment thereof. l

In these drawingsFigure 1 is a vertical section through one ferm o f vending *appaen coincontrolled ejector, with certain adja, cent parts; -Fig. 4 is a plan view,'par tly broken away, of the same; 5 is an end view of a detail,

a longitudinal' sectional view, the center of Fig. its outer position; Fig. to one side of the view shoWnin'Fg. 6 ,and showin the plunger in' its-inner Fig. 8 1s a section of another detall of the ejector;";F,ig. QiS'a-Qperspective-view of the 5 0 turntable for supprtlng the package-chutes;

and Figs. 10 and 11' are a-vertical section and a plan respectively, tails shown in Figs'. 6 and 7.

lt eferrin candy, matches, or` otherseats,

viewed 'from the right,- through theline V-' V of Fig. '3; Figg-'l viewed from 4, showing the L plunger `in.

7 isa similar view, l;

osition;

of a modification of de- -to F1gs. 1 and-2, 1 iswthe base portion an 2 theupper portion oftheniain Application led December 18, 1911. Serial No. 666,318t

center; and at 3 are glass windows. The 'vertical shaft` 4 is journaled inl the bottom and top ofthe casing, and carries 'the spider 5 which serves as a ,turntable for supporting the packagefchutes 6. v7 is'alarge beveled gear fast at the lower end of shaft 4, and 8 is a smaller beveled gear in lmesh therewith and Vcarried on a horizontal 'shaft 9 that eX- tends 'outside of the casing and carriesthe' v handwheel 10. 11 is the delivery-chute,

whosempper end terminates justbelow the spider 5. By rotating handle 10, shaft 4 andits package-chutes are rotated, so as to bring any desired pile of packages above the delivery-chute. The windows 3 permit inspection of thecontents o f the packageehutes 6. On 'the shaft 9 is shown a starwheel 12 with which cooperates a pawl 13, for holdlng the spider and package-chutesv stationary in'any desiredposition. 14 represents conventionally a vertical -pile of packages vlocated in' one of the packagechntes 6. 15 .designates 'a plunge-r that, by being pushed in, pushes the-bottom package 14-inward untilitfalls through the deliv- Yerychute 11.' The. spider 5 v(see Fig. 9.)

'comprises what I may designate as an; outer stepped ring consisting A...ofmportfions 16 constitutinggan upper level and' portions 1 7 constituting .-a lower level connected by the outer, edges casing, shown as broken'away through the 'verticalportions 18'.v 19 -are notches vin the ofthe lower level 17. The pack# 'agechutes .6. aremounted above the' seats vprovided b the lower level 17, the width of each chute eing' somewhat'greater thanisaid so that vthe lowermostpackage 14 in each chute rests with itsends upon the shoulders thus provided by the portions 16. The rear wall of 'each packagefchute is cutaway ery-chute 11, into'whi'chgit is 'to be pushed bytheplunger 15. Y

`In the preferred formv o f my invention, .the-.lower pertion'l Q.f 'the .main Cabinet iS provided withva slide-way 20,' above which is located a block 21 forcarrying various devices 'co-acting with plungerl, which latter slides between 'the Z'slide-way 20 t and this block (see Figs. 3 ,to 8). fl'hiswplunger s adapted to receive the. coin, and e '.pereiied .Witheet-.the propercoinaslw111-be describedhelow. At 22, near the rear I.of plunger 15,' ispiweted inclnedrletw,

at its .lower end, in orderthatthe lowermos package 14' may, haveacce'ss'intothe delivroo having at its inner end the down-turned arms 24-24 -to form the abutment for ejectin the package 14. Aspring 25 normally ho ds the ejector in the elevated position shown in Fig. 3; but when thev lowermost package has been ejected, thev pile of remaining packages dro s down upon the shoulders 16-16, thus col apsing the spring-pressed ejector 23, so that the plate 23 iscollapsed and the plunger 15 can be readily withdrawn. Although the star-wheel 12 with its catch 13, alread described, may suffice to hold the turntab e stationary, yet it is sometimes desirable to provide additional means for this purpose. To that end, I pivot arm 26 in such osition that its nose-can drop into one of the notches 19 in the spider disposed beneath the package-chute in position for delivery; while a spring 27 normally holds this arm in the elevated position shown in Fig. 3. When the hand-wheel 10 has brought the desired pile of goods into proper position, and as the plunger 15 is forced inward, the inner end of the plunger forces this arm 26 into engagement with notch 19 in advance of the spring-pressed ejector, so that when the latter enters its sphere of action there is no dan er of its being interfered with'byl any acci ental swinging of the turntable.y

Referring now to the coin-controlled devices proper, illustrated in Figs. 3 to 8, the plunger 15 is shown as a flat late adapted to slide in and out of the gui e-way 2O and beneath the block 21. At 30 is a circular hole through this plate, adapted to receive the proper coin. The diameter of this hole 30 and the thickness of the plunger 15 are calibrated carefully with respect to the coin for which the ap aratus is intended. In a longitudinal slot 1n the block'21 is pivoted the dog 31, having on its `outer arm two pro-` jections that will be referred to respectively as toe 32 and heel 33, while a spring 34 tends to elevate the inner arm, and thereby forces the toe and heel of this dog into Contact with the plunger 15 (See dotted lines in Fig. 3). In the plunger 15, at the rear of coin-hole 30, is an opening 35 adapted to receive the heel 33,-the parts being so located that the heel is in posit-ion to drop into this hole at the same instant that toe 32 clears the rim of the coin-hole 30. If there be no coin in this hole 30, or if the coin be either too thick or too thin, the dog 31 locks the plunger l5 against being pushed rearwardly; if there be no coin, or if the coin be too thin, the toe 32 will drop `into the position indicated in Fig. 6, and at the same time the heel 33 will drop into this hole 35, thus locking the plunger againstfurtheradvance; whereas, if the coin be too thick, the toe 32 will abut against its upper edge and lock further advance of the plunger and coin. In the same block 21 is pivoted a double-ended dog 40, both of the arms 41 and 42 of which normally rest upon the upper surface of the plunger 15.- On this plunger is located the tripping-cam 43, in alinement with the end v of arm 42, the parts being so positioned that this cam 43 will trip the rear arm 42 when the coin-Hole has'reached the front arm 41. In this position (see Fig. 7 the front arm 41 is forced down into the hole, and would Vpush the coin out of the plunger. In the pawl drops into the rearmost hole 52, and

when the plunger is in its innermost position the pawl drops into the outer hole 53. In intermediate positions, they pawl is trailing, so that the plunger cannot be pumped back and forth, but can only be shoved entirely in and shoved'entirely out.

In Figs. 10. and 11 is shown a modification of the coin-ejecting device. This comprises a disk 60 pivoted in the same or a similar .block 21, and provided with a rearwardlyextending arm 61, shown in Fig. 11 as o set. The plunger 15 has the' same or a similar triping-cam 43 shown in Figs. 6 and 7 v; and li ewise has a longitudinal groove or slot 62 for receiving the rdisk 60. If desired, this disk 60 may carry a forwardlyextending arm 41", similar to the arm 41 shown in Figs. 6 and 7.

The method of operation is obvious: By means of hand-Wheel 10, the desired package-chute is brought opposite the deliverychute, whereu on 'the pawl 13 drops into engagement wit the star-wheel 12; next the proper coin is inserted in the coin-hole 30 of the plunger, and the plunger shoved in; as it travels inward, the upper surface of the c oin serves as a bridge which sustains the forward arm of dog 31 (preventing the toe and the heel from locking the plunger),next the cam 43 trips dog 40 and e'ects the coin;4 the inner end of the plunger orces `the arm 26 into engagement wlth the notch 19 (thereby locking the turntable rigidly), and thereafter the ejector 23-24 forces the lowermost package 14 rearwardly. into the deliverychute; and, finally, the plunger is withdrawn by the spring 15', ready for the next customer.

I have thus described my invention fully and with-considerable detail, but onl for the sake of clearness, since the invention is not limited to the precise constructions and arrangements set forth. My invention oomprises (preferably in connection with the rotary plurality of package-chutes audv said plunger-a dog having a toe and a heel for preventing the plunger being pushed in except with ,theV proper coin-means for ejecting the coinl from the plunger-means forpreventing the plunger1 from being pumped back and forth-and means actu-l ated by the plunger for locking theA packagechutes in positionbesides the various combinations of the' foregoing features, certain other features of construction and arrange ment hereinafter set forth' and claimed.

Having thus described my invention, I claim: y,

In a machine of the character set forth, the combination of a slidably mounted plunger having a coin receiving opening therein and a smaller opening in the rear thereof, a spring actuated dog pivotally secured to the frame of the machine, said dog having at its front end a toe and a heel adapted to simultaneously enter the openings in the plunger, a double ended trip dog pivotally mounted at its center on the frame and having the ends of its arms nor mally resting upon the upper surface of the plunger, a tripping cam formed upon and projecting above the upper surface of (the plungerand adapted for engagement with the rear arm of said last named dog, whereby the forward end of the same is adapted to be forced into the coin receiving opening of the plunger, said dogs bein oppositely located, one in advance of the ot er and arranged above the plunger, and means for automatically holding the plunger when forced inwardly and releasing the same when the coin is deposited from the plunger thereby permittingl the latter to assume its normal position.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence oftwo subscribin'g witnesses.

FREDC. WHITMORE.

Witnesses: RALrH L. Sco'rr,

WILLARD H. Hamme. 

